Car construction.



PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

4 SHEBTS-SHEET 1.

3E. Bows.

UAR GQNS'JRUGMGN.

APPLIGATON FILED MAY 3,1905.

PATENTE@ MAR.V 5, 1907.

Nash/15,933]

E. I. DODDS.

CAR CONSTRUCTION.

APPLIOATION FILED MAYs,1so5.

SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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PATENTE@ MAR.

E. I. DODDS.

UAR CONSTRUCTION.

APYLIGATION FILED MAYs,19o5.

4 SEBETS-SHEET 3.

To. 845,933. PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

E. I. nomas. l GAR CONSTRUCTION..

APPLICATON FILED MAY 3,1905.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UNITED'A STATES NPATENT oFFron.

EIHAN I. DODDS, OF PULLMAN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PULLMAN COM- PANY,OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

CAR CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented' March 5, 1907.

' Applicationled May 3. 1905. Serial No. 258.577.

@ZZ whom it may con/cern.: v Be it known that I, ETHAN I. DoDDs, a

l citizen of theUnited States, residing at'A Pulli acterize'd by theprovision 'ofiacshaft extend man, in the county of Cookanii State ofIllivnois, have invented certain new and usefulv Improvements in CarConstructions, of which the following is asecification. My inventionlrelates to car constructions, more particularly cars of that'typewherein the lbottoms are constituted by a series 'of iloor-secti'ons` inthe form of hin ed doors y that mayfbe dropped by means of oor-operatingmechanism to discharge the load beneath or 4to the sides ofthe car andsubsequently raised to andy-held in normally closed position. Y

In fan'application heretofore filed b me on the 24th day of April, 1905,Seria No.' 257,150, Iliave disclosed as the subject-matter thereof adoor-operating mechanism charinglongitudinall of each side of the carand provided with'o set or cranked portions 'envby me on the 28th vdayof Apri 1905, Serial No. 257,879,I have shown an extension of nected to-allow the door to drop and swing c side posts of, thebody and'carryinghingel members of the car-body, (indicated at 20 the same principle to alcar having one or more ldischarging bottom-sections that are hingedalong both their outer and inner edges, so as to dump the load eitheroutwardly or in wardly relatively to the sides of the car. In said`last-named application the doors are supported 'by hinge memberscarried by slidable longitudinally-extending ro ds, whereby the hingeson either side may be discononv the hinges of theo'ther side.

My present invention relates to a car of the same character'asthatdisclosedin the .last- .named application, In present4` improvementspertainingto a iiferent manner and means of supporting the inner andouter margins of the drop-bottom sections with capacity fordisconnection 'from theirsupports, so as to open' in either direction,said means being chiefly characterized by the provision of l oscillatoryrods mounted, preferably, in the arms movably engaging hinge-arms orbrackets mountedl on the doors.

In the accompanying drawings I have gondola car, and, referringthereto-- Figure l` is a cross-sectional View of a car, showing adoor-on one side in open position and the o posite door on the otherside in closed osltion. view oiP the end portion of the car. shown. inFig. 1. Fig. '3- is a longitudinal sectional View showing in sideelevation thevdoor-opera-ting shaft. Fig. 4 is an enlargedcross-sectional view through one side of the car-body, more particularlyillustrating the door supporting and o erating mechanisms. Fi 5 is Fig.2 is a side elevational4 illustrated a preferred mechanical embodi- I`ment of my invention as "applied to a steel an enlarged 5 eta-il vlewin longitudina Y secr tion through the shaft-operatingmechanism at theend ,of the car, and Fi '6 is a detail front elevational view of the saft-operating mechanism shown in Fig. 5.

' Referring tothe dran ings, 10 may designate the twin center sills,which in cars of this type usually accommodate the draw-bar andcoupler.v

11 designates the side end plates, of the car-body.

13 designates the side stakes, which have y.outwardly-projectingtruss-ribs affording a'n effective resistance to bending or bulginglstrains upon the sides vof the body. i

14 designates each of a'series of doors constituting drop-bottomsections of the car- These doors are hinged along both their inner andouter longitudinal edges in' plates, and 12 the .the following mannerand by the following ,carrying at' their ends laterally-extending'means: Rotatably'm-ounted in the ribs or i pintles 17. Suitably securedto the outer.

mar 'ns of thedoors 14 are hinge `members 18, aving downwardly-turned orhooked ends 18, adapted to engage and hang from the pintles 17 when thedoors are closed. A

similar mechanism `is 4shown for supporting the inner margins ofthepdoors with the same .capacity for a swinging movement on their innermargins as hinges, the same consistingr of shafts 19, mounted in thetransverse frame and commonly termed flying transoms,) said shafts 19being located, preferably, just outside the center sills 10. Fast on theshaft 19 are depending hinge-arms 21, having laterally-projectingpintles 22, adapted to be engaged by the downwardly-turned or hookedends 23a of hinge-.arms 23, secured to the inner margins of the doors.Preferably, and as more clearly shown in Fig. 4, the hingearms 18 an'd23 are integral with a bar 24, `that underlies and engages the undersurface of the door throughout its entire length land constitutes areinforcement and also a wearstrip or track for the rollers of thedoor-operating mechanism next to be described.

Disposed longitudinally of and beneath each side of the oar-.body is adoor-operating shaft 25, which has integral offset or cranked portions25a, disposed between adjacent iiying transoms and underlying the hingeddoors. Each shaft has fast thereon a series of spur-gears 26, that restupon and operate over racks 27, herein shown as bolted to the ltwermargin of the flying transoms. The offset portions or cranks 25a oftheshaft are each preferably provided with one or more rollers 28, thatengage the under surfaces of ,theV doors in an antifriction manner,being so disposed as to register with and operate upon the wear-strips24. 'From the lforegoing it will be seen that when the shaft 25 is givena turning movement the shaft will not only rotate about its own axis,but by reason of the gearand-rack mechanism on which it is' mounted willbe caused to travel bodily and .laterallyv inwardly and outwardly of thesides of the car-body, this resulting in giving to the roller-supportsof the doors a long wide arc of travel, permitting a wide opening of thedoors, as well as affording a mechanic- 'ally-advantageous means foroperating the latter. Any suitable and convenient mech anism for turningsaid shaft may be employed, a simple mechanism for this purpose hereinshown consisting of the following: Referring more particularly to Figs.5 and 6, 29 designates a bar securely bolted to the outer face ofthe.transverse end sill 30 and containing a dovetailed channel- 31. 0nsaid bar is slidably mounted, by means of a dovetailed tongue 32,engaging said channel,v a block 32, in which is iournaled the end.

of the shaft 25. On the overhanging end of said shaft are keyed a pairof twin star-wheels 33, and between them is loosely mounted anoperating-lever 34, vthat carries on either side a pivoted dog 35,engaging the toothed peripheries of the starwheels. Pivotally mounted onthe block 32, above the inner star-wheel 33, are a pair of oppositelydisposed and operating' detent-pawls 36 and 37, the noses of whichoverlie and engage the teeth of said star-wheel, one of said pawlspreventing rotation. of the `v.star-wheels and shaft in one directionand th'pther preventing such rotation in the opposite direction.' Whenboth engage the star-wheel-in the manner shown in lig. 6, the shaft issecurely held against turning and sidewise bodily movement in eitherdirection.

For the purpose of effecting the oscillation of the outer hinge-shafts15, so as to connect and disconnect the outer margin of the doors,

as desired, one or both ends of the shaft is provided with a dependingarm 38, which when. swung outwardly of the side of the carbody turns theshaft 15 and carries the hinge-arms 16 and pintles 17 downwardly and outof engagement with the cooperating hinge-arms 1S, carried by the door.Conversely, when the arm 38 is swung from t-he outer inclined positionto the vertical depending position, as shown in Fig. 4, said hinge-arms1.6,and pintles 17 are swung upwardly into interlocking engagement withthe hinge-arms 18. In order to maintain said hinge members in thelast-described. position, any simple detent mechanism.. may be employed,such as a ratchet plate 39, engaged by a pivoted dog 40, which latter isswung downwardly and out of the Way when the door is to be disconnectedfrom its hinge. As a further means for locking the hinge-shaft-innormally operative position a ring or loop 41 may be. pivoted to theside of the car and arranged to engage the lower end of the operatingarm 38 when the latter is in its depending vertical position, as clearlyshown'in Fig. 4, a crossin carried by said arm sufiicing to retain theatter and the ring engaged with each other.

For operating the inner shafts 19 I may employ7 at either or both en'dsthereof an upright arm 43, by rocking which Vto one side, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 4, the inner hinge-arms 21 may be dropped, so as todisconnect the hinge-arms 23 from the supportingpintles 22, thusallowing the inner edge of the door to drop. The reverse movement ofsaid arm 43 aftery the' door has been closed restores theconnectedvcondition of said hinge members. Any suitable fastening meansmay be employed to secure the arm 43 in its vertical or door-operatingposition. n

In operation, assuming that the doors are closed and that it is desiredto discharge the load outwardly of; the sides of the car, the pawl 40andlockihg-ring41 are disengaged and the arm 38 is swungupwardly, thusrock- IOS ing the shaft 15 and disconnecting the hingepintles 17 fromthe hinge-arms 18, which allowsthe door to drop on the hingeintles 22 asan axis of movement, when the s aft 25 is actuated by the operating-arm34 to move said shaft bodily inwardly ofthe car, the inner detent-pawlbeing out of the way for this purpose, the weight of the load eflectinthe actuation of the shaft as soon as it hasilieen started by lever 34.In case it is desired to discharge the load beneath the car, andPconsequently to swing the doors on their outer margins as hinges, theinner actuating-arms 43 .uter edges, each of .saidj hinge mechanisms areoperated in the manner described,thu's separating the inner hingemembersand reeing the inner marginof the doors, permitting the latter todrop as soon as the shaft 25 is actuated in the opposite direction ortoward Y the sides ofthe car.

To. restore the car to normal load-receiving condition after a load hasbeen discharged,

whether beneath or to -the sides of the carbody, the doors are irstrestored to horizontal position or closed position by the door-operatingmechanism, ai'ter which the shafts 15 for 19,` as the case maybe, areoscillated to restore the connection of the PIeViOuSly-separatedhinge-arms.

It being evident that minor changes in the i details of construction andrelative-arrangement of parts might be made in theabove- 'described`mechanism without departing from the Vprinciple or. sacrificing any ofthe advanta es thereof, I do not limit the invention t'o t 'e particularstmcture and mechanism disclosed, exceptto the extent indicated in'specific claims.

This patent is intended to embrace only so 'ered by the claimsx y Iclaim-'- much of the disclosure made herein as is cov-v 1. In-arailway-carhaving one or morev center sills, they combination of one ormore dumping-doors on each side of-said center sills; separable` hingemechanisms supporting each of said doors on both. of its longitudinaledges whereby either edge may be dropped, each of said hinge mechanismscomprising a hinge member carried by the .door,an` oscillatoryhinge-rod, a hinge mem- 1 ber for said rod pivotally engaging saidirstnamed hinge'mem'ber, and means for actuat-l ing said hinge-rod, andmeans for actuating said doors, substantially as described.

In' a railway-car having one ormore. 'center sills, the combination ofone or more dumping-doors on each side of said center sills, separablehinge mechanisms supporting each door on both of its longitudinal edgeswhereby'either edge. may be dropped, each of said hinge mechanismscomprising a hingearm carried by the door, an oscillatoryhingerodextending longitudinallyof the' car-bo a hinge-arm carried bysaid rod, 'means pivot- "allyconnecting said hinge-arms,. and 'means foractuating said hinge-rod, and means for `ab scribed.` y

actuatingfsaid doors, substantially as def 3. In a railway-car having.onev ormore center sills, l the combination of onejor moredumping-doors on'each side of said center sills, se arable hingemechanisms support-j ing eac ofsaid doors on both its inner and y door,an oscillatory hinge-rod,

comprisi fa' hinge-arm carried bythe door having a ent end'anoscill-atory'hinge-rod extending longitudinally ofthe carre hingearmcarried by 'said rod and having a pintleA engaging the bentend of'said-first-named hinge-arm, 'and means gfor; apthating A'said i centersillsfthe combination of" one or more.

dumping-.doors on each side of said center .y sills, separablehinge"meohanismssupporting' each vof said doors onbothliitsinner andouter longitudinal' edges wheiy eitherjedge -'may be dropped, each ofsaid hinge mechanisms comprising a hingev member crried bythe hingemember on said rod pivotally and separably engag- Ving said irst'- namedhinge' member, and4 means for actuating said hinge-rod, a detent devicefor retaining said hinge-rod'in a poil I" sition to hold the doorclosed, and means for actuating said doors', substantially as described.v. A

5. The combinationwith a car-body having a dumping4 floor-section, ofseparable' hinge mechanisms supporting said iioor-section on both of itslongitudinal vedges Whereby either edge maybe dropped, said mechanismcomprising a hinge member carried by the floor-section,an-oSciIl'atOryrOd, a hi e member on said rodpivotally and Separab y.

- engaging said first-named L hinge '-ineinbe'r, j means for actuatingsaid hinge-rod; lan oper--v atin -shaft having -an oifset'portionca gefa rol er, and a wear-strip on the under sdel 4" said iloor-sectionengaged by said rollerfsaid wear-strip constitutingA anintegral 'connec-'tionbetweensaid hinge .members carried b 'said Hoor-section,substantially: as describe y IDO 6. Ina railway-car, the combination-ofaf car-body, center sills, one or more dumpingdoors on each side of said'center sills and .forming therewith 'a' substantiallylevel or flushbottomforV said car-body, separable f 1 A v hinge mechanisms supporteach of said whereby either edge may be andmeans for actuatingsaidliinge-rod, and

doors on bothv of its longitudinal- @edges ropped`,iea'ch of said hingemechanisms comprisingv a hinge member carried by the door, vanoscillatory hinge-rod, a hinge member on said rod pivotally engagingsaid first-named hinge member,

means for operating saiddoorsto o en and v close thesame,.'substantially as descri ed.

. ETHAN I', DODDS,`

, Witnesses:

,'SAMmsnN. POND, Y

. FRigiDniticKfC. GOODWIN.

